The Rockets did not intend to do Gerald Green a favor by cutting him. They needed a bigger body, and they needed it now. They released Green on Saturday to make room for Rice product Mike Harris.

But Green should take this as the day his career was saved. He was replaced by the guy he needs to become.

If Green played, practiced and most of all competed as hard as Harris, he would not be unemployed today. He has a sweet shot and can jump out of the building. Another team will likely take another shot to teach him how to play. It could be the Rockets.

"We have no formal plans for Gerald in the offseason except we will take a close look at signing him," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said. "We feel the same way about Gerald now as before — lots of potential."

Teams are not giving him away because they can't see the potential. It's there. But he has not shown that he sees what it will take to bring it out of him.

He is a good guy, certainly not a bit of trouble. Green does what he is told. There is no defiance in him, so in that sense, someone can work with him and push him. He takes direction. But he has not shown the level of drive he will need to succeed at this level.

The NBA also should look at his struggles and reach a similar epiphany. Commissioner David Stern did not want to unduly influence kids to join the NBA before they are ready, which Green did with his jump from Gulf Shores Academy. But the NBA has been entirely willing to let them fool themselves to think they have arrived when they give them starring roles in the dunk contest.

Green is not a cautionary tale, but neither is he a guy who plays and practices as if fighting for a job. He came home to Houston as local star, first-round pick and sensational dunk champion.

Saturday, he became a former Rockets guard. With all that talent, he is far from out of chances, but he needs to push himself in order to move his career in a positive direction.

Not on the same page

Ron Artest has been consistently inconsistent in stating his intentions for the offseason. He can opt out of his contract to become a free agent, an option he has said he will exercise. He has also said he will not.

But he did offer a look at how he feels when he blasted Kings coach Reggie Theus after a comeback win against the Heat last week.

"I'm glad coach didn't give up like he did in Miami," Artest said. "In Miami, we were down 14, (and) he pulled me out. We got down 26, and he put me back in the game. But (last Sunday) we were down 20, and he let us play. He told us, 'You only have five minutes to get it right,' or he was going to put the young guys in. Sometimes in this league, you're going to get down 20. It happens. As long as we keep fighting, we'll get it back."

The Kings, not appreciating Artest's wisdom on the subject, fined him $5,000. When he opts out, they probably won't break the bank to keep him.

Winning gets noticed

When the Celtics were down, the line that went around was that barring a lottery miracle, they would stay there because no one would want to play for a bad team in a city with bad weather.

Since then, not only have the offseason moves put them on the top of the standings, it made them the destination of choice for Sam Cassell, P.J. Brown and Damon Stoudamire (whom they turned down.)

"It all comes down to one thing — winning," coach Doc Rivers said. "Winning does that. I've always known that. When you're bad, nobody wants to come. When you win, people start looking at you in a different way.

"We all had to listen to that. But even then, I just looked at our record."

All about the Benjamins

For every player who said they just want to win — and some do — there are plenty that seek time, touches and money, a little secret that everyone already knew and Larry Hughes completely uncovered.

Hughes did willingly accept a role that did not suit him with the Cavs and did play hurt to help them reach the Finals. But now that he is with the Bulls, he admitted that he is happier because he gets to shoot more, even if it means winning less.

"I play to enjoy myself," he said. "Some people take this the wrong way, but winning a championship is not what I base everything on. I was given an opportunity to play basketball, travel around and have fun doing it and that's what I want to do. I wouldn't take being unhappy and not being myself and winning.

"I would rather enjoy myself with 18,000 to 20,000 people watching the game and the people sending fan mail and those things and be happy.

"It was a good run. We had 50-plus wins, made the finals and I learned from it. I was unhappy, though, and wasn't myself. I'd rather enjoy the game than all that."

Riley's refunds

"I should write a check to each season-ticket holder and send them back the money — at least for (this one)," Riley said after Wednesday's 108-83 loss at home.

A few nights later, Riley said he might have to skip a few games to scout college players. In other words, he can look ahead to next year, but it is wrong if his players do the same thing.

If the franchise cares about the paying customers, as Riley suggested, then the coach also should show up to the games.

Bigger than record shows

As monstrous as LeBron James seems on the court, more than even his 6-8, 240 pounds would indicate, there is. it turns out. a reason for that.

After a teenager ran on the Madison Square Garden floor to congratulate James during his 50-point destruction of the Knicks, James said he wasn't frightened.

"I'm 6-9, 260," he said. "I'm all right."

Upon learning that James has added an inch of height and 20 pounds, no one else felt all right to learn that freight train is bigger than listed.

Rivalries run deep

In a sense, the Pistons still think of Ben Wallace as one of them, having been so integral to their championship team. That does not change how they feel about the teams he has joined since.

"We still hate Cleveland," Lindsey Hunter said now that Wallace was shipped from the Bulls to the Cavaliers. "We didn't like Chicago (when Wallace was there), either. That's just the way it is."

They don't play great basketball very often in the East (with the Pistons a notable exception), but they do know about rivalries.

Ellis under the radar

Lost among the surges of the Rockets, Lakers and Spurs, has been the stunning play of the Warriors' Monta Ellis.

With the notion of making him a point guard long since shelved, Ellis has become a sensational scorer. In February, he became just the ninth guard in league history to shoot 60 percent from the field for a month (with a minimum of 10 games and 150 attempts) when he averaged 26 points on 60.2 percent shooting.

Kudos to Jackson

With the Lakers sitting atop the Western Conference standings and Kobe Bryant so cheery, Phil Jackson is being mentioned as a Coach of the Year candidate.

Mitch Kupchak might be more in line for executive of the year in a nice irony after Bryant's offseason of sniping, but Jackson would seem worthy, particularly because he has only one despite his nine championships.

"Usually, it's a team that's a surprise team," Jackson said. "Favorites aren't usually given coach of the year."

Fewer fans

The Kings' sellout streak of 345 games ended last season. And last week's game against the Lakers was just their second sellout of the season. Amazing what a losing team and political wrangling for a new arena can do to ticket sales.

There was room, however, for more than a few Lakers fans, with chants of "MVP! MVP!" for Kobe Bryant during the Lakers win. Bryant did not mind the radical change from the old rivalry days with the Kings.